Enameled insulation stripper for wires



Jan. 17, 1961 A. AvENl 2,968,056

ENAMELED INSULATION STRIPPER FOR WIRES Filed Sept. 2, 1955 H5 IOT IIS205 I INVENTOR. L 11' @,f ,f BYAnthony Avem d '7M-Mmm AGENT UnitedStates Patent@ ENAMELED INSULATION srRIPPER FOR WIRES Anthony Aveni,1966 S. Normandie Ave., Los Angeles, Calif.

Filed Sept. 2, 1955, Ser. No. 532,241

2 Claims. Cl. 15-124)l This invention relates to wire stripping devicesand more particularly to a novel wire stripper for wires with anenameled insulation coating.

In the use of wire for coils and such devices in electrical andelectronic apparatus it is frequently necessary for this wire to bcinsulated with an enamel coating. One such coating'now in general useare materials having the trade names Formex or Formvar. These coatingsare so tough that only severe scraping of the coated wire will removevthe coating. The scraping may result in undue weakening of the wire sothat in the equipment in which the wire is installed it may be easilybroken. When this happens it is more ditlicult to properly connect thewire. Improper removal of the enamel from the wire also makes it moredifficult -to tin the wire with solder for solder connection thereof tothe circuits or components in which the wire may be used.

This invention contemplates a device for removing the enamel coatingfrom enamel insulated wire in a more efficient manner than prior enamelstripping means.

It has been a practice to strip the enamel coatingA from thwire withspecially prepared acids. To use the acids,

the end of the wire to be stripped is dipped into the acid bath, thenwiped with a cloth toremove the acid corroded enamel and finally dippedinto an acid neutralizing bath and again the wire is wiped.

My invention proves mechanical means for accomplishing the eiectivestripping kof enamel from enamel coated wires. A bottle or containerofthe acid stripper is provided iin an integral assembly with a clamp. Thejaws of the clamp are padded with removable saturable pads that may bewetted by the acid through small openings vin the portion of the bottleassembly which is attached to the clamp. A second similar bottle andpadded clamp assembly is provided as part of the wire stripper toneutralize the acid. To use my invention the end of a wire is placedbetween the acid saturated pads in the jaws of one of the clamps for amoment and pulled, thus per- Jforming at once the dipping and strippingoperation previously required as separate steps. The wire end is thenplaced between the neutralizer saturated pads in the gther clamp of theassembly and pulled through, thus completing the wiping and cleaning ofthe wire and neutralizing the acid to prevent further corrosion of thewire- Several embodiments are illustrated in the drawings `and describedin the specicjation below. All of the `methods shown are related tomanual operation but it is clear that mechanical automatic means can bedevised to perform the functions of the wire stripper in an apiceVpropriate sequence where high-speed mass production requirements sodictate.

It is accordingly an object of this invention to provide a simple andconvenient device forV stripping the enamel coating olf ofenamel-insulated wires by acidaction and neutralizing the acidthereafter.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an acid wirestripper and neutralizer includinga padded clamp equipped for feedingacid to the pads and a padded clamp for a neutralizer. v

It is still another object of this` invention to provide plural manuallyoperable padded clamps with fluid dis;- pensers attached thereto forsaturating the pads thereof with iluid.

lt is a still further object of this invention to provide a stripper forstripping oi the enamel coating on enamelinsulated wires 'comprising acommon assembly of a p lurality of padded clamps and iluid dispensersattached t0 said clamps for saturating the pads of the clamps.

These and other objects will be more clearly under-A- stood from thespecication and' claims which follow, taken together with theaccompanying drawings in which various wire strippers are shown. i'

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a drawing of a non-elected embodiment of a wire 'stripper withone-half in cross section; Y

Fig. 2 is a drawing of another non-elected embodiment of a wire stripperwith one-half in cross section;

Fig. 3 is a drawing of the preferred embodimentv of this invention;

Fig. 4a is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 4a-4a of Fig. 3 of adetail of the pads used in this embodiment;

Fig. 4b is a cross sectional view similar to 4a showing lanother meansof detachably holding the pads; and

Fig. 5 is a drawing of a stand of a type fory supporting the inventionwhen not in use.

'Referring now to Fig. 1, an embodiment of a wire stripper is showninvolving a bottle 101 which is designed to contain an acid strippingviluid 117, anda bottlel102 designed Ato contain a neutralizing fluid.In the drawing of Fig. V1, the bottle 101 and its associated elements,lis shown in a cross-sectional View, while the bottle 102with itsassociated components is shown inthe formlof its external appearance.The bottles 101 and 102 may/*be fabricated from glass which must betreated to Aprevent corrosion by acid, or the bottles may be fabricatedfrom any one of the number of corrosion resistant plastics nowavailable. The bottles 101 -and 102 are assembledin la common frame 103which also forms the bases and bottom jaws as at 104 and 105 of clipswhich are similar to alligatorclips. The balance ofthe one clip for theacid bottle is shown sectionally to clearly illustrate the operation ofthe bottle and clip. The clip, associated witl'104, comprises a spring106 and an upper jaw `107 andi lower jaw 108. Upper jaw 107 continuesinto handle 1'0'9 and has a screw cap 110 integrally molded as a part ofthe through the bottom portion of screw cap 110 which is continuous withupper jaw and handle 107 and 109. A washer 121 is provided between cap110 and bottle 101. The washer is perforated to form a continuous flowpath with openings 113 and 114 for uids contained in the container 101.A pair of acid resistant saturable pads 115 and 116 are provided. Pad115 is attached to the under side of the upper jaw 107 and pad 116 isattached to the lower jaw 108. When bottle 101 is filled with a uid suchas an acid which may be used to strip the enamel from wires, this fluid117 will seep through openings 113 and 114 to saturate pads 115 and 116.As shown in detail at 120 (Figs. 4a and 4b) between the pad 115 andopenings 113 and 114, a perforated or screen structure is provided.

When using the wire stripper as described above, the jaws 107 and 108will open by applying pressure against handle 109 with the thumb, orotherwise. The wire to be stripped is then placed between the jaws,pressure released against handle 109, whereupon the jaws 107 and 108will close over the wire. If the pads 116 between the jaws 107 and 108are saturated with acid and permitted to remain closed over the wire fora predetermined time,

the enamel coating of the wire will soften and if the wire ,f

is pulled through the pads 115 and 116 of the jaws 107 a neutralizing oralkaline substance and, therefore, the j pads 115:1 and 116a of theneutralizing side of the wire stripper will be saturated with theneutralizing uid. The pads 115 or 116 are so situated in either clipthat their surfaces are above the clip structure to permit insertion ofthe wire between the clips from any angle. Thus,

`when the wire is placed between the pads, as previously Adescribed forthe acid side, it will be possible to neutralize any residual acidremaining on the wire after the enamel .has been stripped to preventfurther corrosion of the wire,

leaving thereby a clean wire surface that may be readily soldered.

In Fig. 5 a stand is shown which may be formed from wire plastic or anyother material. It can be seen that the bottles 101 and 102 when not inuse can be supported in the spirals 501 and 502 of this stand in aposition such that the bottles have their open ends up, thus preventingsaturation of the pads by the uid when the wire stripper is not in use.A possible mounting means is illustrated at wire loop 503 incorporatinga screw 504 which mayA be used to attach the stand to a work bench orother supporting structure.

In Fig. 2 a second version of a wire stripper is shown wherein the twobottles are molded in a common cylinder and 203 being the acid portion.The upper jaws are similar to those previously described in connectionwith Fig.

` 1 and are similarly identied with the same reference characters. Thelower jaws 206 and 206a, shown in Fig. 2, have a screw cap moldedportion 205 as an integral part thereof. Screw cap 205 has a hole at 207into which an extension 208 of pad 116 is inserted through bottle area203 so as to act as a wick for saturating the pad 116. The parts of theright hand side of the drawing of Fig. 2 correspond generally to thoseof the left-hand side and are similarly constructed and as has beendescribed with respect to Fig. l, the left-hand side of Fig. 2 is theacid con- The use of the use of the stripper in Fig. 1.

201 with the portion 202 being the neutralizing portion The preferredembodiment of this invention is shown in Fig. 3. In the embodiment shownin Fig. 3 the acid and neutralizer bottles and the wire clamp to whicheach is attached, are identical with those of Fig. l. The difference inthe construction as shown in Fig. 3 arises from the fact that the twobottles and their associated components are side by side instead of inline with each other and are attached to a handle assembly 301 in theform of a Y which may be conveniently held in the hand, as illustratedby a series of dashed lines.

In Figs. 4u and 4b there are shown details of the means whereby thesaturable pads such as 115, 116 or 115a or 116:1, may be attached to thejaws such as 107 and 108 of the clips such as 104 or 105.

Referring now to Fig. 4a there is shown a cross section laterally andvertically through jaws 107 and 108 of a clip such as 104, shown in Fig.l. The upper jaw 107 is perforated with many foraminae 120. Pad is inclose contact with the lower foraminate surface of upper jaw 107 of aclip such as 104 so that any fluid seeping down from reservoir 101through the openings 113 and 114 may saturate pad 115. When the jaws 107and 108 are held together, pad 116, attached to lower jaw 108, becomessaturated due to contact with pad 115. Pads 115 and 116 may be clippedto the jaws 107 or 108 by means of U shaped clips such as at 401 whichhold the pad, for example 115, against the jaw, for example, 107. It canbe seen that clip 401 or 402 might be readily made from a thin resilientU-shaped piece of material with a slight spring to the upright membersof the U` such as 404 and 405. The material should preferably becorrosion resistant.

In Fig. 4b there is shown an alternative arrangement to that illustratedin Fig. 4a wherein the jaws suoh as 107 and 108 of the clamp such as 104are fabricated as shown at 407 and 408 to include grooves 403 and 406into which pads 115 and 116 respectively, may be forced. By the use ofthe means illustrated in Figs. 4a and 4b, when pads 115 and 116 are wornthey may be easily replaced.

There has been shown herein a novel acid wire stripper and neutralizerassembly which lends itself readily to the rapid removal of the enamelinsulation coating of copper or other electric wires so that goodcontact may be made to the bare wire.

It will be clear to those skilled in the art that there are other waysby which a wire stripper, according to this invention, may be madewithin the scope of the above disclosure and the appended claims.

What is claimed as new is:

1. An enamel stripper for enamel-coated wires comprising the combinationof iirst and second corrosive uid resistant containers, each having adispensing end including a perforated washer at said dispensing end; rstand second alligator clamps, each having, respectively, mating upper andlower jaws operably held together in opposing relation by resilientmeans attached thereto; one of said jaws of each of said clamps,respectively, having an integral threaded cap, said cap being perforatedin the surface in common with said jaw and adapted to receive one ofsaid containers, respectively, by the dispensing end thereof and to holdsaid dispensing end in a sealed relation to said cap therein; each ofsaid jaws of said clamps, respectively, having a saturable pad removablyattached to the mating surfaces thereof; and a handle both said handleand said alligator clamps being attached together in au operablerelation, the handle forming the vertical of a Y and the alligatorclamps forming the upper diagonals, respectively, of the Y, to permitthe operation of said padded jaws of said clamps against the urge ofsaid resilient means by the thumb when the handle is held in ones hand,said lirst container having a corrosive fluid and said second containerhaving a neutralizing fluid, said uids being dispensed through theperforations of said washer and said cap and said jaw of said clamp incommon with said cap to saturate said pads in opposing relation and heldtogether by said resilient means, whereby enamel coated wires may beinserted between said pads of said first alligator clamp to remove saidenamel with said corrosive uid, and thereafter between the pads of saidsecond alligator clamp to neutralize anycorrosive fluid remainingthereon.

2. The stripping device dened in 'claim 1 wherein said one of said jawsof said yalligator clamps is the upper jaw thereof.

6 References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSJennings Aug. 16, 1932 Plumely et al Aug. 15, 1944 Love Oct. l5, 1951Smith Jan. 13, 1953 Greenberg Apr. 16, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS SwitzerlandDec. 16, 1952

